The following year he would be in other plays, such as "Taming of the Shrew." Onscreen, he had a few roles, and gained recognition in Buscando al señor Goodbar (1977). Offscreen, he spent 1978 meeting Tibetans when he traveled to Nepal, where he spoke to many monks and lamas. Returning to the US, on Broadway he portrayed a concentration-camp prisoner in "Bent," for which he received the 1980 Theatre World Award. Back in Hollywood, he played the title role in American gigolo (1980), establishing himself as a major star; this status was reaffirmed by Oficial y caballero (1982). In the early 1980s, Richard went to Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador (amidst ongoing wars and political violence); he traveled with a doctor and visited refugee camps. It is said that he was romantically linked with lovely Brazilian painter Sylvia Martins. In 1990 Richard teamed up with Julia Roberts to star in the blockbuster Pretty Woman (1990); his cool reserve was the perfect complement to Julia's bubbling enthusiasm. The film captured the nation's heart, and won the People's Choice award for Best Movie. Fans clamored for years for a sequel, or at least another pairing of Julia and Richard. They got that with Novia a la fuga (1999), which was a runaway success (Richard got $12 million, Julia made $17 million, the box office was $152 million, which shows what happens when you give the public what it wants!). Offscreen, Richard and Cindy Crawford got married December 12, 1991 (they were divorced in 1995). Afterwards, Richard started dating actress Carey Lowell. They had a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, on February 6, 2000. Richard was picked by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in 1991, and as their Sexiest Man Alive in 1999. He is an accomplished pianist and music writer. Above all, Richard is a humanitarian. He's a founding member of "Tibet House," a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. He has been an active supporter of "Survival International" for several years, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples, affirming their right to decide their own future and helping them protect their lives, lands and human rights (these tribes are global, including the natives of the Amazon, the Maasai of East Africa, the Wichi of Argentina, and others). In 1994 Richard went to London to open Harrods' sale, donating his £50,000 appearance fee to Survival. He has been prominent in their charity advertising campaigns.

Humanitarian and actor Richard Gere was born on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, the second of five children of Doris Ann (Tiffany), a homemaker, and Homer George Gere, an insurance salesman, both Mayflower descendants. - IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com

Trivia*Attended the University of Massachusetts. Dropped out to pursue acting.

Is the second of five children born to Homer and Doris Gere

People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.

Graduated from North Syracuse Central High School.

Was a member of the student council, gymnastics team, lacrosse team, and ski team.

He received a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he majored in philosophy; he dropped out in 1969 to pursue acting.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1977" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 29.

A Buddhist for over a decade, Gere was banned from the Oscars once after making anti-China comments on the air at the 1993 ceremony.

Cindy Crawford and Richard were married 12 December 1991 by Rev. Wes McPherson at the Little Church of the West, Las Vegas.

He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world.

An accomplished pianist and music writer; in fact, he composed and performed the piano solo featured in Pretty Woman (1990).

Became a father for the 1st time at age 50 when his girlfriend [now 2nd wife] Carey Lowell gave birth to their son Homer James Jigme Gere on February 6, 2000.

When the Chinese Government asked Gere to one of their film festivals, Gere would go attend two conditions: 1. That he was allowed to bring his own interpreter and 2. That he would stay in Taipei, Taiwan during his visit. The government agreed and Gere went to the festival.

Named his son: Homer James Jigme. "Jigme" means "fearless" in Tibetan.

Some of his earliest photos, known as "head shots" were taken by boyhood friend and struggling photographer Herb Ritts. The people handling Gere were so impressed with the photos, they began hiring Ritts for other assignments and he is now a top photographer.

In a London Evening Standard interview to promote Chicago (2002), he claimed to have brought a 750cc Triumph T140V Bonneville from Triumph's Meriden factory with his first paycheck while touring with the stage production of "Grease". He also rode the same updated model, a 1978 T140E, in Oficial y caballero (1982) and an even earlier model, a 1960s 650cc T120R Bonneville. in Mr. Jones (1993).

Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 2006 Man of the Year

Turned down the role of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987). Has since said that is the role he regrets passing on the most.

For his role as Clifford Irving in La gran estafa (2006), Gere shaved back his hairline, got a perm, and even altered the appearance of his nose to fit the part.

In 1993, People Magazine didn't name a "Sexiest Man Alive", but named Richard and his then-wife Cindy Crawford as Sexiest Couple'.

Co-owner, with wife Carey Lowell, of the "Bedford Post Inn" in Bedford, New York. The Inn has eight rooms, two restaurants, a yoga studio, a meditation center.

Family friend of the Thurmans, i.e.: Robert Thurman, whom Richard Gere founded New York City's Tibet House (a nonprofit institution devoted to preserving the living culture of Tibet) with in 1987, Uma Thurman, etc.

Though he's been nominated multiple times for a Golden Globe and once for a Screen Actors Guild Award (two common indicators for an Academy Award nomination), he has never been nominated for an Oscar.

Gere's middle name - Tiffany - is from his mother's maiden name.

Is star of television ads in Japan for Tokyo Towers real estate development. [March 2005]

Westchester, New York [December 2009]

On an episode of The Graham Norton Show (2007), he recounted a trip he had made to Borneo to visit the Dayak tribe. It was in the desolate part of the jungle with a treacherous drop off from the plane. When he arrived, they excitedly greeted him by exclaiming 'officer gentleman' repeatedly.

When I am there [Tibet], I am very happy. The Tibetans radiate. They literally send out light. His Holiness [the The Dalai Lama] generates love and compassion to every human being. He has committed himself to that. I haven't made that leap yet. I haven't given up self-aspiration. I still love making movies.

[on George W. Bush] We have a President right now who lies constantly and gets away with it, apparently.

[on agent Ed Limato]: He was the bridge between old-time Hollywood and Hollywood present. Ed was a master at orchestrating all of the feelings correctly. He had a rare ability to read a script and see what could be.

Pretty Woman (1990) is something I never would have done. Neither is Oficial y caballero(1982). I had no interest in these scripts whatsoever. It was the same person knocking my door down on both of them, Jeffrey Katzenberg, first at Paramount, then at Disney, who was one of my first friends out here and still is. At the point of Pretty Woman (1990), I had been kind of out of things for a while. I consciously [had] just said, "Going off to do other things" and I fucked up my career to the point where [people weren't saying], "Well, let's get Gere to do that". I had to crawl a little bit to get scripts. Doing Asuntos sucios (1990), for instance, was a very difficult decision for me to make because, potentially, that could have been such a piece of shit. It turns out to be one of my favorite movies and best experiences, too.

I'm still like this guy who, like, washed his dad's car. I don't feel like I'm some sort of rarefied species of creature.

[on Los amos de Brooklyn (2009)] I read the script and I thought, this is really unusual. These three interlinking short stories that don't really interact. But somehow, like music, contrapuntally inform each other, in kind of a mysterious way.

[on his character Jesse Lujack from Vivir sin aliento (1983)] Basically the root of him is music - music manifested by his moods. He uses the energy and emotions of the things around him to his own purposes. There's not guilt in him. He refuses guilt, he refuses despair. He turns despair around. He's a funny kind of character; he's not the kind of person you'd bring home to your mother and father. He'd be pocketing things; he doesn't see possessions as being personal. He has an outlaw mentality we haven't seen for a while.

[on why he starred in Mothman, la última profecía (2002)] The emotional stuff was rich. In the beginning, my character's in the perfect job, he has a beautiful wife, they're talking about babies, they're buying a house, everything's great and then literally in the middle of laughing, there's a car accident and she's gone. Now if you put that on top of the metaphysical story of "Is there anything out there?", then you have something that has a lot of power.

[on Siempre a tu lado. Hachiko (2009)] Reading it captivated me immediately. It was very emotional and tense, even though I'd never heard of the story before that. My first thought was, I don't know if I want to act in this, but I certainly want to make it and help it along.